posted Apr 10th, 2012 - Not only Pete Allum was impressed with the NMP-PCH Hayabusa performance at the World Challenge 2012, and there were many good reasons for the great respect that the Belgian team earned once again at Bodyflight Bedford.

Hayabusa had the sole highscores in five of the ten rounds, tied the highscore for a round additional four times and gave away only one single round for a 13-point victory. It was a statement, not only the successful title defense. A closer look at the progression of the Hayabusa attendance at the World Challenge puts even more substance behind this year's victory.

The NSL News compared the Hayabusa scores since 2007 with the strongest opponent each year in Bedford, and the chart shows how the Belgians caught up each year between 2007 and 2010. Then they won for the first time in 2011 and now extended the distance to the team in 2nd place significantly.

What happened to Hayabusa that made the team so strong as they have recently shown at the Paraclete XP Outdoor Championship 2012 and now at the World Challenge 2012? The NSL News invited the team members for a new NSL Talk right after the award ceremony.

Host Paul Mayer was asking the first questions, which Hayabusa was not really prepared for. The NSL News then turned to the more athletic part of the competition when Paul Mayer was satisfied with the answers to his questions.

The current Hayabusa lineup has learned to believe in their own strength and are very confident. They have taken more control over their performance and are not making as many mistakes any longer as they used to do in the past. The 30.4 average was on the leaderboard after ten rounds without a Super Sequence and was the third time for Roy Janssen, Andy and David Grauwels to finish above the 30-point level. New Point Dennis Praet does not even know how it feels to score below 30-average at an indoor competition...

World Challenge 2012		Rd. 1	Rd. 2	Rd. 3	Rd. 4	Rd. 5	Rd. 6	Rd. 7	Rd. 8	Rd. 9	Rd. 10	Total	Avg
Rank	AAA Open Class	D,Q,9,10	17,P,11	2,21,7	14,J,O,M	A,L,18,16	N,H,20,G	C,E,19,22	1,8,4	K,6,3	12,F,5	Total	Avg
1	NMP-PCH Hayabusa	34	33	25(-1)	36	28(-2)	35	30(-1)	25	28	30	304	30.4
2	Aerodyne Aerokart	31(-2)	31	25	37	28	33	26(-2)	23	27	30	291	29.1
3	Arizona Airspeed	34	29(-1)	24(-2)	34(-2)	28(-1)	34	29	22	26	30	290	29.0

It would still be too easy and risky now for any opponent to reduce the Hayabusa strength to mainly indoor skills. The NSL News story on 29 March 2012 pointed out how the Belgian team is on the same track at outdoor competition.

Arizona Airspeed is still undefeated at outdoor meets after winning the Paraclete XP Outdoor Championship 2012. However, it is very much possible that the next meet could bring the outdoor turn, as well. This would be the World Championship of Formation Skydiving 2012 in Dubai, as Hayabusa and Airspeed will not meet each other again before.

The World Challenge 2012 showed that Hayabusa is simply one point faster per round than the other two top teams, before and after penalties. France and USA are in serious trouble if the Belgians can translate this to outdoor competition, and they are on the way of doing exactly that. Aerodyne Aerokart and Arizona Airspeed could only hope for Belgian mistakes in Dubai, unless they increase their own basic speed by one point, or unless it is all just indoor business. And "you don't win a World Meet in the flying chamber..." It will be a very interesting phase between now and November and an extremely exciting competition in Dubai.